Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will hold a rally in Warren, Michigan this afternoon, his second of two events on Monday.
Trump will speak from Macomb Community College beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. However, Trump will likely take the stage a bit later than scheduled, as his previous rally began over an hour late. The event can be viewed live in the embedded YouTube player via Right Side Broadcasting.
This is Trump’s second rally in Michigan today, having previously spoken to supporters in Grand Rapids. Michigan is one of the blue states the Trump campaign has hoped they can turn red on November 8th, with Trump’s economic message potentially appealing to voters there.
But so far there is not much evidence that this is happening. In Real Clear Politics’ polling average, Hillary Clinton is ahead of Donald Trump in Michigan by 7.0 points. FiveThirtyEight forecasts that Donald Trump only has a 17.6 percent chance of winning Michigan.
Trump, however, desperately needs to turn at least one blue state red if he hopes to be elected president. Even if Trump wins every single swing state, including Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Ohio and Nevada, that only puts him at 265 Electoral College votes, five short of victory. Winning Michigan, though, would put him over the line with 281 electoral votes.
Other potential options for him are Pennsylvania, Virginia, or a combination of New Hampshire and Maine’s second congressional district. The Trump campaign is considering all of these options, having recently traveled to New Hampshire and to Maine’ second congressional district and having a rally in Pennsylvania tomorrow.